


Ghost

by disgraceRavenclaw



Category: Mystery Skulls Animated, 逆転裁判 | Gyakuten Saiban | Ace Attorney
Genre: "major character death" but he comes back as a ghost, (if i continue then dhurke will be lance and garan will be shiromori), Apollo is arthur, Crossover, Ema is vivi, Ghosts, Klavier is Lewis, M/M, Mystery Skulls AU, Nahyuta is mystery, and an amputation, fox like bushy tailed and fluffy, nahyuta is a fox and i do mean that literally, not fox like hot, violence is for description of death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2021-01-03 06:08:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21174683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/disgraceRavenclaw/pseuds/disgraceRavenclaw
Summary: And i'm feeling like a ghostAnd that's what I hate the mostApollo and Ema are part of a rag tag little group of Ghost hunters with a talking fox that are on the look out for their missing friend. Apollo thinks that maybe they'll never find him. In reality, he's closer than they think.





	Ghost

**Author's Note:**

> RIGHT OKAY LET ME ADDRESS SOME STUFF:  
This is based off of an animated mystery skulls music video! It's part of a 3 part series that literally totals up to 14 minutes give or take, so while you don't have to watch it to understand what's going on here, it might give you some insight on the story, and wouldn't take you long at all. The series order is as follows as of October 25th, 2019: Ghost, Freaking out, and Hellbent. Not all of this story has been written yet, and not all of the series has been made yet either. We're coming up on the last 2 parts, so stay tuned!
> 
> Also nahyuta is a talking fox, and i'm very sorry about that, but that's just how it's going to be lmao  
I'm working on designs for their characters in this AU, so when I do that i'll comment it below! It might take a few days.

The desert night sky was vast and empty. Only the moon and the headlight’s of Apollo’s van lit the way. Gnarled dead trees surrounded the road, casting monsterous shadows just outside of Apollo’s vision. He shivered and tried to cast doubt on his paranoia.

Beside him, Ema tugged at her green sweater. She seemed just as fidgety as Apollo did, though for entirely different reasons. “Can you believe it? A real haunted cave, right here in tempo!” She fiddled with her rose tinted glasses. “Of course, we’ve yet to prove it’s real, but that’s why we’re doing this.”

“Ema, we’ve seen real ghosts before, you’d think the hunt was over by now.” Apollo turned to smile nervously at her, eyes still on the road. “Is it too late to turn back? You know i’ve been looking for-”

“For your friend,” Ema interrupted, “But the scene of his disappearance is near here, correct?” She leaned back in her seat with crossed arms, and rolled her eyes. “Really, Apollo, you should have thought of looking around here first.”

Apollo chuckled awkwardly, turning back to the road, and hunkering down a little. He really just wanted to be anywhere but the cave. He knew Ema’s memory was affected; that’s why she hardly remembered that the cave had already been thoroughly explored by the group that night. This cave, however, was the only place Apollo had no memory of either. He knew, though, that whatever happened might have taken his friend from him.

_ That’s not even all it’s taken, _ Apollo thought to himself. He frowned, and gripped the steering wheel. The arm that usually sported his golden bracelet was lost, all the way up to the shoulder. In it’s place, Apollo made himself a prosthetic arm with the help of his Father, Dhurke. As for how he lost it…

Apollo looked at the white fox sleeping peacefully between him and Ema. In place of a collar, he had brown rosary beads strung around his neck. Apollo nodded to Ema, and she nudged him unceremoniously. “Nahyuta, get up. We’re almost there.”

Nahyuta lifted his head. “Almost where?” he mumbled. As he moved, though, Apollo flinched away. He tightened his prosthetic hand around the wheel even more. “We’re almost at the cave, remember?” 

His ears perked up. “Oh. The cave.” In a split second, he was at full attention, sitting up and scoping out the road. “That’s right, it was somewhere around here.” He hopped up and put a paw on the dashboard to support himself.

Apollo sighed as they drove down the road, staring at the sky instead of the asphalt. Ema frowned at him. “What’s wrong?” She stared at him as he gripped the wheel even tighter, knuckled turning white. “I’m getting some… bad vibes.”

As if fate were trying to prove a point, the dashboard sparked with purple electricity, and the dials all fell. Even the fuel dial, which showed the van as having had a half tank of gas, fell right to empty. Nahyuta jumped back into his seat between the two ghost hunters as the van began to sputter and slow down.

Ema turned to Apollo, eyebrow lifted in an unspoken question. He shrugged. “I’ve never seen it do  _ that _ before.” Nahyuta craned his head to look out of the driver’s side window. “Now, this could be circumstance, but…” 

He thrust a paw in the direction of the window. Apollo turned around to look in the direction Nahyuta was pointing, and his heart dropped to his stomach.

The van came to a stop almost directly in the center of a great shadow. It belonged to a black mansion that loomed tall and intimidating above the van (and the ghost hunters inside). The trees grew taller around it, twisted branches brushing the wood, and ugly roots clinging to the bottom boards of the mansion’s base.

The aura of the house (quite literally - the entire house was enveloped in a silhouette of purple light, seemingly with no source but the house itself) made Apollo’s blood freeze in his veins. Ema leaned forward to investigate the mansion.

“Wow,” she marveled. “I didn’t know there was a house so far out here!” Apollo forced himself out of his shock to twist his body around and grab his laptop from just behind his seat. “There wasn’t a house on the map, last time I checked.” He pulled his laptop open and checked the map in the open tab. 

Apollo pointed at the screen. “Yeah, see? Right here.” He pointed at the screen, right where the little blue dot was. “This is us, right now. There should only be forest around here.

Ema pointed to a green dot that overlapped the blue one slightly. “And that’s the cave! If there were a mansion here, we would have known, right?” Nahyuta shoved into the space between them. “What do you mean? How can a house just appear out of thin air?”

Apollo shut the laptop, narrowly missing Nahyuta’s nose. “Alright, let’s not crowd around the screen.” He tried to flatten himself against the door, suddenly aware of his proximity to the fox. Nahyuta frowned. 

“It must be paranormal,” Ema concluded, slamming her fist onto her open palm. “Which means we have to investigate!” Before Apollo could protest, she pushed the van door open and hopped out. Nahyuta blinked up at Apollo, then turned and followed Ema out. Apollo groaned in frustration. “Why does this always happen to us?” He exited the van last.

Ema sprinted up to the balcony, leaving Apollo to jog tiredly after her. Nahyuta sat by the door next to Ema as they both waited for the man to catch up to them. He bent down, hands on his knees, taking shallow breaths. “Gimme a sec, i’m out of shape.”

Once Apollo gathered himself, the group took their time examining the door. “There’s no handles,” Ema noted. “And no knocker.” Nahyuta sniffed the door cautiously, ear flattened to his head. “This mansion is giving me a bad feeling,” he warned. 

Apollo reached forward to touch the door. “What is this material? I’ve never seen wood so dark.” He had no time to feel the material, because the doors caved in at his light touch, causing him to pull his arm back. The hinges were old, despite the house having just suddenly appeared, and squeaked loudly as the doors creeped open, exposing the interior of the home. 

Though the outside looked old and weather-worn, the inside of the house was a grand lobby with dark oak floorboards not unline the material of the door. Subtle designs within a diamond pattern covered the wallpaper in mauve, matching the plum-trimmed carpet that ran up two duel flights of stairs. The whole room was decorated with unlit, ebony candelabras, framing a giant black chandelier (also unlit) hanging from the tall ceiling. 

Ema’s jaw dropped as she tried to take it all in. “This place is massive!” She walked into the lobby, spinning slowly to take in the entirety of the room. While Ema was gazing in wonder at the room, Apollo bad been struck down by his nerves.

“It’s also too empty to be normal,” he mumbed to himself. Raising his voice, he set a hand on Ema’s shoulder. “Don’t you think it’s weird that this big, empty mansion popped up in the middle of a texan desert?”

Before Ema could reply, the sound of creaking caught their attention. The group barely had time to turn as the doors shut behind them, shrouding them in the darkness of the windowless lobby. There was a loud, high pitched shriek.

“Apollo,” Ema yelled, “Get a hold of yourself!”

“Sorry! I got scared!”

“I can’t see anything in here.” Apollo heard a few footsteps near him. “Maybe we can find a way to light all these candles?”

“We shouldn’t split up in the dark,” Nahyuta objected. “Let’s stay by the door and try to get it open. He walked in the opposite direction of Ema, towards the door. Apollo followed Nahyuta, having to tug Ema with him by the hand. 

Apollo pressed a hand to the door and pushed, but it didn’t budge. “Uh, it’s not opening.”

Ema pushed him lightly out of the way. “Yes, Obviously. This isn’t a saloon door; you pushed it to open it from the outside, so you have to  _ pull _ it…” She grabbed the handles and tugged them back. 

“To open it… from the… huh?” She yanked the door handles back, but they just stayed in place, not even giving. The only sign that the doors hadn’t somehow become a wall was the telltale jingling of a locked door being pulled with all of one’s might.

Finally, Ema let her hands drop, setting a hand on the door. “Okay, so what’s the new plan?” She turned around and took a step, walking right into Apollo. When they crashed together, the fell down to the floor, landing right on Nahyuta. They laid in a confused heap of pain. 

“Apollo! Watch where you’re going!” Ema squirmed around, trying to prop herself back up, and elbowed Apollo’s face in the process. “ _ Ouch! _ Hey!” Apollo cried out. “You’re the one who started moving and knocked  _ me _ over!”

“Get up, you’re crushing me,” Nahyuta groaned in discomfort. 

Purple light highlighted their figures, painting them all a dark plum color that flickered with the low intensity of it’s source. Now that they were (mostly) no longer in a heap, they could look up at the source of the light.

It was a single flame floating in mid air. It approached the group, which sent Apollo flying back, propping himself up on his elbows as the little light grew closer. Ema got up and examined it closely. She brought her rose tinted glasses down to her eyes, cooing at the little fire. “Aww, you’re kinda cute.”

It flew forward and graced her nose before drawing back, which made her laugh. “This must be a really low powered spirit if it’s so little,” she commented. However, all Apollo heard was  _ ‘something else had to have made this mansion, and it’s much more powerful’ _ .

The little flame flew away from Ema quickly, floating to a candelabra on the shelf. It hopped along the edge, causing tthe candle to light. Like a wave of dominos, violet flickers of light lit each candle, multiplying themselves, until every candle was lit. The chandelier was the last to go, all candles around it lighting at once. The violet flames refracted through crystal strands that hang from each branch of the chandelier, making it look like threads of dew-covered silk along the light piece.

Apollo pushed himself up. He could already feel his jaw shaking a little. It was marvelous, of course, but he couldn’t stop this sinking feeling that something about the mansion was off.

“It’s such a beautiful mansion,” Ema said in awe. Nahyuta stuck close to her, looking about. “But we know that it’s graced with the presence of the departed.” He looked up at her. “Let’s be extra careful.”

As if on cue, violet wisps of plasma erupted from the walls. They took form in long, snake like creatures of light. They were slightly transparent, and hummed in harmony. Ema ran to the middle of the room where they were all congregating, and Apollo followed her reluctantly. 

Ema watched them attentively, and Apollo shook with nervousness. Nahyuta shared the sentiment, looking just as wary of the ghosts as Apollo was. Ema tapped her chin. “They seem perfectly benign,” she noted.

At once, they all opened their eyes, which were deep gold and looked hollow, like lights hidden within the purple missed. Their tone became discordant as they hissed at the group, growing ferocious. Apollo’s heart dropped, and he grabbed Ema’s wrist. “Spoke too soon!”

Apollo took off with Ema and Nahyuta in tow. The sound of hissing and shaky minor chords alerted them to the ghosts’ pursuit. The group turned down a hall full of empty knight’s armor, positioned on racks with weapons in their hands. Ahead of the three, Apollo noticed one flare to life with purple light. It lifted the ax in it’s hands in a readying position.

“Duck!” Apollo warned. He dropped to the floor, sliding under the swinging axe. He didn’t hear any screams, and the carpet had yet to be stained red, so he assumed everyone was okay. He turned back to look at Ema and Nahyuta, and they both seemed fine.  The armor behind them fell apart, no longer possessed by whatever was trying to harm them. Apollo listened closely for the hissing of their ghost pursuers, but he heard nothing. He sat against the wall, breathing hard. “Okay. I think they stopped following us.”

Ema stood up, a hand on her chest. “Well, at least we got a workout from that.” She held a hand out to Apollo, which he graciously took with his right hand. He was afraid of her taking him by the metal arm, were it to separate (which doesn’t happen  _ often, _ but can happen with that much strain.). 

Once they were both on their feet, they examined the walls. This hall they were in now was covered with paintings. One side displayed two paintings; one of a man dressed in fine, pink victorian clothes with dark gray hair, and another of a woman with equally victorian clothes and a blue-jeweled bow on her chest, with light gray hair. The other side was decorated by two more paintings, one of a rough looking man with black hair and the other of a dark skinned man with white hair and a red eye-visor.

Apollo touched the canvas of the painting close to him. It was the man with long black hair. His bangs were touched by a streak of white on the right side. Apollo squinted at the man’s eyes; they were adorned with dark bags, and shadowed by his hair. They glared forward at nothing, until suddenly landing on Apollo. 

Fear froze Apollo in place. The painting came to life, tilting his head down to sneer at Apollo. His voice was low and gravelly, with a slight british accent.. “Why don’t you keep your hands to yourself before you regret it?” he threatened.

Apollo leaped back. “A-AH! I’m so sorry!” Nahyuta leaped forward. “Are you planning to injure us?” He hissed at the painting. The painting growled something unintelligible to himself. “What was that?” Nahyuta pressed.

“I believe if he said it louder, it would be that he couldn’t if he wanted to,” came a midatlantic voice from behind. It sounded calm and intelligent. The two spun around quickly to see the victorian dressed man gazing down at Ema. He lifted a hand, and stroked his chin. “I do believe you aren’t supposed to be here. The master of this house isn’t especting visitors.”

“The master?” Apollo asked. “Edgeworth.” another voice interrupted, this time a snooty and high class voice from the lady beside the victorian man. “You should not be telling these intruders any of the master’s business. That is foolish of you.” She glared, and pulled something tight in her hands. Was that a whip? Apollo gulped nervously.

“Apologies, Franziska.” Edgeworth steeled himself, looking forward. “Godot, what do you think about this?” The group turned again to look at the white haired man. His expression was unreadable due to the visor on his eyes. He tilted his head down and looked at the party of ghost hunters.

“I’d trust the lady, and perhaps the dog, but that metal-armed brat looks like he’s no good.” Apollo pouted, cheeks puffed out. “Brat?” He questioned, offended. The painting (Godot, apparently) tilted his head to look at those across the hall from him. “Kitten, would you do the honors?”

“Don’t call me a kitten, you fool, or I’ll come over there and whip you senseless!” In the background of her painting, a rope pulley dropped into view. She reached back, keeping her eyes on Apollo. “This should do the trick.” The three huddled close together as she yanked the pulley down, and the floor opened below them, sending them all screaming into a pit.

The space around them was an endless lilac expanse, and it felt like they were falling fast to no certain destination. Around them floated all kinds of objects; wine glasses, trophies, mirrors… After what only felt like a few moments, Apollo became aware that he was falling faster than the other two. He reached up to his friends, arms outstretched to try and hold onto them. “Ema!” he shouted. “Don’t go!”

“I can’t help it!” She tried to reach down to Apollo, but their fingers just barely brushed before Apollo started falling even faster, and the void around him began to grow dark. “Emaaaa!”

“Apollo! We’ll find you!” As they fell farther from each other, Apollo plummeted into the unknown depths. 

Wherever Ema and Nahyuta landed, it wasn’t where Apollo was. As soon as She fell, Ema was attentively whipping her head around to look for him. “Apollo!” She called out. “Where are you?!”

The lights flickered on, and Nahyuta jumped in front of Ema to protect her from whatever spirit was trying to present itself. However, when the two took the room in, they relaxed. It seemed like just a normal kitchen, if incredibly high class. Ema took a step forward, and took a cabinet handle in her hand.

“What are you doing?” Nahyuta asked. “Apollo’s been separated from us, we need to look for him.”

“I know we do,” Ema said, tossing the cabinet open, “But this whole thing is stressing me out, and I need to…” Her eyes widened as she gazed into the cabinet. “...snack.”

The cabinets were stocked to the brim with nothing but Ema’s favorite chocolate snackoos. She pumped her fist in the air. “Yes! Score!” She grabbed a bag and tore it open. “Oh, these all look so good!” She shoved a handful into her mouth.

Nahyuta pawed at her leg. “Ema, you aren’t even phased a little bit by your personal favorite snakcs being… the only thing in this kitchen?” Ema looked down at him, and finished chewing what was in her mouth so she could swallow before replying. “I’m sure it’s not the only thing.” She turned to the fridge and opened the door, peeking inside. Nothing but snackoos.

Ema hummed. “I think i’m just going to be an optimist and call this a blessing.” She sat down and crunched on another snackoo. Nahyuta glared at her, emerald eyes narrowed in judgement. “Once you’re finished, we really need to get looking for Apollo.”

Elsewhere, Apollo landed on his backside, in great pain. “Oh god,” he groaned, “I hope that didn’t break my tailbone or something…” He propped himself up on his hands, and rubbed his head. Miraculously, nothing felt broken when he twisted his limbs around to check them.

He was in a dark hall that looked like it was part of the basement. The walls and floor were both stone, and stalagmites rose from the ground on the sides of the walls. Apollo looked about cautiously, then his eyes landed on a black coffin in front of him. 

The coffin was decorated with silver and purple engravings, and a skill on the front, right in the center of the widest part of the coffin. Apollo stared at the coffin, dumbfounded. 

A loud creak paralyzed Apollo, and cued the lighting of several candles surrounding the coffin. Apollo hopped to his feet, ready to run at a moment’s notice. The creaking came from the cover of the coffin, which was slipping open slowly.

Inside of it, the first thing that caught Apollo’s attention was a bright yellow heart ornament. It pulsated with light at a steady rhythm, and was floating in a fixed position close to the chest of the  _ next _ thing Apollo noticed. A black jacket with a torn collar. Three pairs of ribs protruding from the sides. A great looming figure with a skull and no jawbone for a head.

A ghost.

Apollo knew he should have ran then, but he felt frozen to the spot in fear. He just watched the figure float forward and stop above the ground in front of the coffin. It’s eyes were hollow, and it’s brow bone would shift to emote. It seemed to ignore Apollo, looking at the heart floating by it’s chest. For a moment, Apollo felt sympathetic for it; it looked so deeply sad.

Then, it’s expression melted away into a heated anger, brows arched downward as it turned it’s skull to leer at Apollo. It floated closer to Apollo, causing him to lurch back in defense. He still couldn’t find it within himself to run. It was as if something was keeping him there. 

Finally, the ghost stopped about a yard away from Apollo, landing on the ground. Dust scattered where his feet stomped on the stone floor. He tilted his head up and away from Apollo, and had he had a mouth, Apollo could see the movement associated with a sneer.

“Oh. It’s  _ you. _ ” The voice was booming and low and distorted, tinted with disgust. It seemed to have come from the ghost. Apollo didn’t respond. He was still psyching himself up to run if the situation called for it.

The ghost turned it’s skull down, looking at Apollo with so much emotion for a face so nearly static. “I should have suspected you would come back.” Apollo tried to ease his nerves, and spoke with a wavering, fearful voice. “I’ve never been here. Y-you must be thinking of somebody else.”

The ghost’s ‘eyes’ widened, sockets empty and emotionless. “Someone… else?” The sockets twisted shut, and the skull tilted down, bobbing slightly. Apollo was confused for a moment, until hearty, malicious laughter echoed off of the walls. It started as a low chuckle, but grew loud and energetic. The ghost set a gloved hand on it’s chest.

Apollo watched the ghost shake it’s skull back and forth as the laughter tapered off, and he peered at the man once again, sockets squinting in judgement. “Oh, no, no. I would know who you were from a mile away, Apollo.”

Hearing his name from the ghost’s disembodied voice made Apollo’s heart drop into his stomach. “Fuck,” the ghost continued, “It’s  _ you _ I hate the  _ most! _ ” Apollo couldn’t seem to do anything but point at himself with a mechanic hand, and mutter meekly, “m-me?”

The ghost’s hands curled into fists, and his shoulders, padded in his jacket, hunched up. “Enough talking,” he growled, tossing his head to the side. Bright purple fire flared along the skull and within it, taking the shape of short cut hair, and two balls of light for pupils within the sockets. “It’s time for action. Now,  _ face me! _ ”

The ghost’s voice was loud and harsh, bouncing off of the corridor walls, bringing Apollo to his senses. Without a moment’s hesitation, Apollo turned and ran as fast as he could. The sound of fire  _ fwoosh _ ing behind him definitely wasn’t a good sign. He didn’t dare turn back as he sprinted up the stairs. 

The chase continued down a familiar hall. He saw the four paintings as he ran through the corridor. The paintings looked surprised at his presence. As he passed, he heard the gruff voice of the man with black hair mutter to himself: “He won’t be here long.”

Apollo took a chance to glance back, feeling himself losing energy. He regretted his choice as he saw the ghost floating quickly and effortlessly after him, a trail of violet fire tracing the ground his left foot was barely scraping.

Full of newfound adrenaline, Apollo launched himself forward, desperate to escape the ghost’s wrath. 

Meanwhile, Ema and Nahyuta sat on the kitchen floor, both of them crunching on snackoos. “We’ll look for Apollo after this, right?” Nahyuta said. Ema handed him a snackoo, and shushed him. He sighed, and munched on the snackoo from Ema’s hand.

As Apollo sprinted past at top speed, wheezing and shouting in panic, Ema stood quickly. “What was that?!”

“It was Apollo,” Nahyuta said as he hopped to his feet, “And we should get out of here before we find out what he’s running from!” Ema wasted no time in dashing after Apollo, Nahyuta following her quickly. A flash of heat teased at his tail as he glanced backwards at the ghost that was pursuing them. 

The party ran through the halls, splitting up and rejoining at multiple parts. At one point in their mad dash, they all reached out to open a door, and found the ghost waiting for them on the other side. Apollo shut the door in it’s face, and sprinted to a door at the end of the hall. 

On his their way there, Nahyuta skidded to a stop. He noticed a grand painting with a silver frame that depicted a midnight scene of a van parked at a cave. As he peered into it, memories began flooding to the surface of his mind.

_ The van was tightly packed. He took the middle seat that he usually did, with Ema to his right. Apollo sat in the back of the van, twisting the golden bracelet on his arm. “Why can’t I drive this time? You’ve driven the last three times now.” _

_ “Because i’m a better driver than you, Herr Forehead.” _

_ In the front seat, their team leader, Klavier, drove along the road. “Besides, knowing you, you might shake so hard you drive us right off the road.” Ema snickered, but frowned. “God, don’t make me laugh, fop. You know that’s not allowed.” _

_ Klavier smiled charmingly. “Right, of course. You could not bear to be enraptured by my wit, it’s unbecoming of you, fraulien.” Despite her previous statement, Ema chuckled. The two were growing fairly close, even though their relationship started out very rocky. Ema remained spiky towards him most of the time, but she was managing to warm up to him. Her teasing grew platonic and good-natured. _

_ Apollo and Klavier, however, were beginning to grow apart. Nahyuta thought it very odd. He looked back at Apollo, who was twisting his bracelet back and forth like he did when percieving. This time, however, it was only out of boredom, or from being bothered. “It’s my van,” he mumbled. “Dhurke saved up a lot to get it for me.” _

_ Klavier looked back, a twinkle in his eye. “Yes, but I drive it oh so well, don’t you think? Do I do your car…  _ justice _ ?” He smiled mischievously, and giggled. Apollo rolled his eyes and smiled slightly. “Har har. Jokes. Fine, but I want to drive it next time.” He looked down at his bracelet again, fumbling with it, and blushing lightly. _

_ Nahyuta was surprised by their growing apart for this exact reason; whenever Klavier made a little joke, or looked at Apollo in just that kind of way, Apollo found interest in anything but Klavier’s face, trying to hide the warmth that would spread on his cheeks. One night, Nahyuta inquired about it as they sat by themselves. _

_ “Fine,” Apollo admitted, “I really… really like him. More than I think I should. More than I think he wants me to.” At the time, Apollo had laid down on the ground, putting a hand on his face. “It’s just… ugh!” Apollo frowned, throwing his hands up. “He’s way out of my league. He’s so wonderful, and smart, and… uh, looks… good.” _

_ “You find him hot,” Nahyuta supplied. Apollo’s face flushed strongly. “Yeah, yeah, whatever! Don’t let that get out. You can’t tell him. I… I think he’s got something for Ema. That’s why he only ever teases me, but tries so hard to befriend her despite her being so prickly. I want him to be happy, and I want her to be happy… so I can’t intrude. I won’t intrude. Not until i’m certain it’s going to go well.” _

_ Nahyuta stood, and hummed at that. “Love is worth the risk, Apollo. If you love him, you must hurt having to stand to the side as he’s unaware of your feelings. You should try. You should tell him.” _

_ Apollo bit his lip. “I think i’m going to wait.” _

_ Now, he sat in the back as Klavier and Ema laughed among themselves, helplessly ignored by Klavier besides the single comment. Nahyuta felt for Apollo.  _

_ “We’re here,” Klavier announced as he parked the van at a cave’s entrance. Dying trees with ugly branches surrounded it, and stalagmites rose from the ground all around the opening. The party exited the car, and entered the cave, lead by Klavier, who had a torch in hand.  _

_ Nahyuta knew something was wrong with the place as soon as he step foot in it. It was setting off his instincts like nothing else had, and he didn’t like it one bit. “Stay alert,” he told them all.  _

_ Eventually they came to a cross roads. “Maybe we should split up to cover more ground?” Klavier suggested. Nahyuta frowned. ‘Way to suggest the exact opposite of ‘stay alert’’, he thought to himself, But Apollo was already close to Klavier’s side. “Klavier, can you and I go together?” _

_ “Tired of going with Nahyuta?” Klavier asked. Apollo looked down, and Nahyuta knew that wasn’t the case. “Uh… sorta. No offense, Yuta.” The fox swished his tail. “Oh, none taken. I’m not the best company, I know.” _

_ Klavier grabbed Apollo’s hand, causing Apollo to jump a little. “Then we’ll go together. Nahyuta, Ema, you two go together.” Ema crossed her arms. “How like you to let a lady go with an animal.” She walked down the right path, and Klavier and Apollo turned to the left. Nahyuta stood between them, but something felt horribly wrong about all of this.  _

_ He went down the left road. _

_ The three were surrounded in icy blue fog, which smelled faintly of rubbing alcohol. The fumes were faint enough to bear as they traveled through the cave. Klavier slipped his hand out of Apollo’s, extending his torch to look at what was at the end of the cavern. “Oh my,” he mumbled quietly. “That… is a long way down.” _

_ Apollo stepped a little closer to the edge of the cliff. The bottom was riddled with stalagmites going in all kinds of directions. “Is it unstable ground?” He drew in a breath, but faltered. For a moment, Nahyuta wondered if it was because of the unusual smell.  _

_ However, he was quick to withdraw that line of thought. Apollo’s right hand tensed, and turned Icy blue. Nahyuta hesitated -  _ If i didn’t, _ he thought now, _ maybe we wouldn’t be in this mess - _ at first unsure if it was because if the irregular lighting.  _

_ Apollo stretched his hand out, and lunged forward. He made contact with Klavier’s back, and time slowed down as three disasters, one before the next, happened in quick succession of each other. _

_ The first disaster: Klavier’s fall. Klavier wobbled forward, twisting around to catch sight of Apollo as he dropped his torch, casting odd shadows along the wall. Once Nahyuta heard the sound of skin breaking, of meat squishing and bones breaking, he knew it was too late. It was at this point he began his lunge. _

_ The second disaster: A scream. It had come from Ema, who’s path lead down to the bottom of the cavern below. She must have seen the body, Nahyuta realized. He wondered what part that played in her amnesia of all events relating to Klavier. Had it been a defense mechanism? Or something more? _

_ The third disaster played out in his memory clear as day. Apollo turned around, face split perfectly down the middle. On his right, he looked shocked beyond belief. “W-what have I…” he murmured as best ass he could with only one side of his mouth. The other side was twisted up in a sick grin, skin transitioning to an icy blue. His other eye’s sclera was tainted black, and his brown eye was bright and cyan. His left arm was completely gone to the infection. There was only one thing to do. _

_ The third disaster: Nahyuta’s impromptu exorcism. He couldn’t get the taste of Apollo’s blood out of his mouth, even to this moment. _

Nahyuta snapped himself out of it. If the ghost is who he thought it was, they needed to get out. They could save him later. The fox sprinted down the hall after his friends.

Apollo burst through the door, running to a 90 degree turn in the hall, but crashed into the wall as he saw the ghost on the other side of the bend. The ghost floated in front of him, too close for Apollo to brave going either way to escape. He was cornered. 

The man backed up against the wall, arms spread out, back pressed flush into the corner as far as he could get himself. The ghost reared back, growling in anger. Apollo screwed his eyes shut, turning away, waiting for the inevitable impact…

...which never came. He opened an eye carefully to scope out the scene in front of him.

Ema stood in front of Apollo, arms spread out in a defensive stance. “Don’t hurt him!” she yelled. Apollo felt frozen to the spot, and waited for the violet flame to engulf Ema, but much to everyone’s surprise, the ghost looked complacent.

The ghost simply stared ahead, looking almost a little sad. “What are you doing?” he whispered, voice still low and garbled, but sounding much kinder. “Don’t you know who he is?”

Ema looked back at Apollo, then again to the ghost. “Of course! He’s my good friend, and I don’t know why you’re antagonizing him!” She smiled a little, trying to fight it and keep up her angry face. “Although, it’s really cool to see a fully corporeal entity right in front of me, and I  _ will _ be studying you at a later date after i’ve secured my good friend Apollo’s safety!”

This seemed to make the ghost even sadder. He dropped to the floor, holding the heart by his chest in his hand. “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll show you something very important… something i’ve needed to show you for what feels like such a long time.” 

He extended his hand, and the heart floated slowly to Ema, still pulsating evenly. Beating, Apollo realized. Ema stared at the heart in wonder as it approached her, and reached out her hand. Her fingers were inches from the heart when Apollo felt every nerve in his body fire off at once.

_ This is a trick! _ His mind shouted what he already knew back at him.  _ You have to get her out of here right now! This ghost is dangerous! _ Nahyuta returned to the scene, emerald eyes wide, sharing the same horror as Apollo. Apollo looked down the hall and saw it lead back to the lobby, so he moved as quickly as he could.

Apollo grabbed Ema’s hand and tugged her away from the heart just before her fingertips could brush the gold surface, and Nahyuta took off after them. As he tore her away, the heart fell to the ground. “No!” The ghost shouted as it collided with the ground. It turned a pale blue as a crack ran up from the spot that first collided with the floor, and it gave one last sad beat before growing still.

The ghost stared at the mess on the floor, and from it’s fingertips to it’s shoulders, it began to tense up. The fire on it’s skull became unstable, spreading onto it’s back and arms, and with a furious shriek, finally erupted into a burst of flame that climbed along the walls and through the halls, into the lobby.

“What was that for?!” Ema shouted. Apollo turned to look back at her. “That thing tried to  _ kill me! _ ” he shouted. “I wasn’t going to let it touch you!” His head turned to the hall as he watched a great fuchsia conflagration burst through the opening, and he grabbed Ema and pulled her through the door, practically having to jump through to escape the flames licking at their heels. 

Fire erupted from the door, lighting the whole area purple. Apollo shoved Ema into the van. “Come on, go go go!” He threw the door open and jumped into the drivers seat. “We need to get going as fast as possible!”

Ema protested, but Apollo didn’t hear her. He put the key into the ignition, twisting it as Nahyuta hopped into the back. Apollo threw his head back. “We all accounted for?”

Nahyuta and Ema gave him curt nods. The fire exploded again in the background. “Great!” he shouted, and hit the gas hard. The van spurred to life, seemingly over it’s moment of weakness, and the ghost hunters sped down the road, growing in distance from the mansion. 

Within the mansion, the ghost stared at his heart, broken on the floor. The fire was beginning to die down, the last of it creeping it’s way out of the door. He scooped the heart off of the floor, turning his skull up to gaze at the van - the van piloted by his murderer, carrying his closest friends - as it disappeared over the horizon. 

He watched until the smoke it left dissipated. He watched a little longer. When he couldn’t bear looking any longer, he looked down at the heart in his hands. He ran his thumb over the crack along the front, and pressed down on it lightly.

With a click, the heart shaped locket opened, revealing a picture of all four of them. All three of them. He burned  _ him _ out as soon as he saw the picture. 

Klavier shut the lid of the locket, and held it close to his case. For a moment, he felt a tear going down his cheek. He could actually  _ feel _ a cheek there, for the first time in months. He retreated inside of his heart, leaving his soul to flounder in his sadness.

Apollo watched the house vanish in the van’s rear view mirror, fading away like the afterimage of a nightmare. He just kept driving.


End file.
